Ag Research

Unless you are like my friend Sunny, who does not usually care for the taste of chocolate, then perhaps you can agree with me that it would be nice to save the cacao plant, which produces the cacao bean required for the production of chocolate. The cacao crop in South America is currently unde...

At the end of your work day, what motivates you to set up that extra experiment, type one more paragraph, or stay alert and active in that late-afternoon meeting? If you are wired similarly to my husband, then it is probably the paycheck. Salary, bonuses, and pay increases are means for ...

Postdoc positions within the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, like many other jobs, have taken a hit with the latest budget news. The option to extend USDA postdocs past their two-year appointments is no longer available—at least for now. So, as I draw near the end of my second year, I have ...

As I finished typing up my Ph.D. dissertation in the spring of 2009, I began exploring non-academic job prospects. My boyfriend and I had been dating for a couple of years and were looking forward to getting married and starting a life together—a life that included balance. From my obs...

Last month, I attended the Postdoc Conference & Career Fair in Bethesda, Maryland. There were many talks regarding the transition out of academia into technology transfer, communications, and industry. Going into the day I was not enthused about attending the industry talks. I ...

“Mandy, I still remember the first time we got to know each other,” my friend said during a four-hour road trip a couple of weeks ago. “We were riding a bus to New York City, and I really wanted to get to know you and to understand what you work on, but all I could figure out was that th...

Hey everyone! I’m Mandy, a Missouri farm girl transplanted to the Washington D.C. metro area and a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agriculture Research Service. I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to blog for Bio Careers about my work in agriculture.